[elwappo99]

Quote:

 
Thanks for the insight! The cans are essentially new, they were returned as unwanted by the previous owner. I will let them fully burn in before making the final judgment. I recall that the pair of k701s I had before conveyed the same unnatural feeling to music when I used them with the Little Dot MK3 and that pair was fully burned in. I'm not fully convinced that the sound will change fundamentally though.

 
That's certainly interesting to hear. What other headphones do you have? What DAC do you have this hooked up to?

 

[casperry]

I have just recently returned to this hobby so at the moment I own only k702s, matrix m-stage and topping d20 DAC. I have owned AKG K240DF, K701, HD600, HD650, Beyerdynamic DT150 and a bunch of other headphones not worth mentioning. I really liked the K240DFs, better than the HD650s, they were tonally natural but didn't like the K701s at all, they were the worst out of them all. They had the biggest sound stage, great amount of detail but nothing sounded real on them. HD600s and K240DFs are also studio and analytical headphones but they possessed musicality. I'm afraid that this basic characteristic will not go away, the sibilance could be tamed with longer burn in though.
 

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

I have just recently returned to this hobby so at the moment I own only k702s, matrix m-stage and topping d20 DAC. I have owned AKG K240DF, K701, HD600, HD650, Beyerdynamic DT150 and a bunch of other headphones not worth mentioning. I really liked the K240DFs, better than the HD650s, they were tonally natural but didn't like the K701s at all, they were the worst out of them all. They had the biggest sound stage, great amount of detail but nothing sounded real on them. HD600s and K240DFs are also studio and analytical headphones but they possessed musicality. I'm afraid that this basic characteristic will not go away, the sibilance could be tamed with longer burn in though.
 

 
I'm not super familiar with your DAC, so it might be possible the DAC has a touch of brightness. Try plugging into a different source and see if you get any different results? 
 
The K701 tends to really polarize people. Either they really like the headphone, or they hate it because of the sibilant top and light bass. It seems like you've got all the components lined up to have a pretty good sound. I'd let the Matrix settle in a bit more and depending on how many hours the K701 have gotten, maybe give them a few hours of burn in as well?

 

[casperry]

D20 is probably as decent as m-stage is compared to some of its more expensive counterparts made in west. Great value DAC is what I'm trying to say. Do solid state amps like m-stage benefit much from burn in? My LD3 tube amp changed the sound a lot during the first 10-50 hours but tubes operate differently. I plugged them in my Yamaha receiver, there are some minute differences.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

D20 is probably as decent as m-stage is compared to some of its more expensive counterparts made in west. Great value DAC is what I'm trying to say. Do solid state amps like m-stage benefit much from burn in? My LD3 tube amp changed the sound a lot during the first 10-50 hours but tubes operate differently. I plugged them in my Yamaha receiver, there are some minute differences.

 
I find the Mstage "warms up" a little bit after being on for 10 minutes or so. Nothing like a good tube amp though
 
If you've got a receiver I'd give a good listen.  I'd make sure they get about 50 hours of burn in. If it turns out you're still thinking these headphones are way too bright, it could be that you're ears and the K701 are just not meant to be. 

 

[bracko]

Quote:

Hello,
 
I'm listening to a brand new m-stage amp and akg k702s, which have had maybe a dozen of hours of listening time. So far this combination is performing poorly - the sound is sibilant, very metallic and tonally  off. Has anyone else had similar experience and the sound signature later changed for better due to burn-in?
 
Thanks,
Cas

 
What is the gain setting on your Matrix amp?

 

[casperry]

Currently I have set the gain to 18db, it gives more slam so to speak. I did a little bit of research and the consensus is that the k701s require a very long burn in so I'll keep my combo for a while. I really hope that the sibilance and harshness in treble region will fade with time.

 

[casperry]

Just wanted to report back on the burn-in process and how the sound has changed. I really have started to like what I'm hearing, the tables have turned and now sibilance and harshness can be heard on some records whilst before it was there on most. Dynamics are much better also, so is the bass. Both the amp and the k702s have been burning in for 30 hours or so and still seem to be improving. Quite a change!

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

Just wanted to report back on the burn-in process and how the sound has changed. I really have started to like what I'm hearing, the tables have turned and now sibilance and harshness can be heard on some records whilst before it was there on most. Dynamics are much better also, so is the bass. Both the amp and the k702s have been burning in for 30 hours or so and still seem to be improving. Quite a change!

 
Awesome! Glad to hear. I don't know why the K701 line is so hard to "burn in" but they certainly made me a believer in burn in, to some extent. I think someone said they changed for him along the lines of 500 hours! 

 
I don't think I've ever bought a pair new and burned them in for that long, so I can't verify personally, but you might keep a loose tally of the hours 

 

[ShrikeT]

What's the best place to buy one of these with the Class A biasing mod? Tamaudio, Ebay, or elsewhere?

 

[casperry]

That's why I decided not to return my k702s. Some folks are reporting changes even in 300-500 hour region, enough to turn haters into lovers.
 

 

[BournePerfect]

Quote:

 
Awesome! Glad to hear. I don't know why the K701 line is so hard to "burn in" but they certainly made me a believer in burn in, to some extent. I think someone said they changed for him along the lines of 500 hours! 

 
I don't think I've ever bought a pair new and burned them in for that long, so I can't verify personally, but you might keep a loose tally of the hours 

A few of us have reported changes with over 500 hours of burn in. I literally left mine running for like 6+ months on end or more when I had them. Sounds crazy, but one day they suddenly sounded significantly smoother-to the degree that there was almost no sibilance to speak of. It was around the 800-1000 hour mark. I thought I was crazy, but couldn't deny the extreme chance (no other equipment changes either)-then I ended up reading another couple of guys said the same thing-800ish hours brought more changes. Bottom line-ALWAYS have them running.
 
-Daniel

 

[blueangel2323]

Is there a listing of all the different revisions somewhere? How many revisions were there anyways? And what changed with each revision? I know that at some point the power transformer was covered to reduce interference, and at some point they added holes on the side of the casing. But when?

Also, what is the going rate for these in the used market?

Thanks.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

A few of us have reported changes with over 500 hours of burn in. I literally left mine running for like 6+ months on end or more when I had them. Sounds crazy, but one day they suddenly sounded significantly smoother-to the degree that there was almost no sibilance to speak of. It was around the 800-1000 hour mark. I thought I was crazy, but couldn't deny the extreme chance (no other equipment changes either)-then I ended up reading another couple of guys said the same thing-800ish hours brought more changes. Bottom line-ALWAYS have them running.
 
-Daniel

 
Huh, interesting!
 
I'm hoping my K702. 64AE opens up a bit as time goes on. For all the hype about these sounding amazing and such, they definitely lose the big benefits of the original line (namely, the very open sound). Guess time will have to tell this one. I think I might try to nab a very old K701 at some point if they don't open up pretty soon. 

 

[casperry]

What I find that on some records the k702s actually sound very good, never mind the required burn-in time. It really varies from record to record and it makes me wonder if that's just a bad mastering job (boost the bass and treble and compress it all) and my headphones are just presenting that. You can hear deep in some, make out all the instruments and pinpoint them precisely but in some you have this mush and screech and I skip the track immediately.